ST. LOUIS â"
All Ken Hitchcock has to do is bow his head and frown. Thatâs the respect he gets these days from the St. Louis Blues. Â
The Blues are near the top of the Western Conference, rarified air for the franchise in recent seasons. The players credit their savvy, veteran coach, who was hired 13 games into the season and arrived with a track record of prodding teams to the top on short notice.
Two months ago, they were foundering. Plug in Hitchcock, and theyâre legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. Â
âTheyâre a top team in this league,â Canucks forward Daniel Sedin said after his overtime power-play goal beat the Blues 3-2 on Thursday night in a matchup for the lead in the Western Conference. âThis is one of the toughest teams you can play right now.â
The goalie tandem of Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak has combined for seven shutouts. The once anemic power play has made big strides with a simple mandate to fire at will and capitalize on deflections and rebounds. Theyâre perhaps more dangerous at even strength with a relentless forecheck and four lines with a combination of speed and big bodies. Â
Elliott, who wasnât even guaranteed a job in camp, is the teamâs lone All-Star. Â
âItâs his ability to convince us to pay attention to details and really want to play the game right for 60 minutes,â Elliott said. âHaving his hockey knowledge, I think we trust in it, and it shows.â
Instead of thinking overhaul, Hitchcock approached the job much like one of his productive part-time gigs. Hitchcock coached Team Canada to a silver medal in the 2008 World Championships and served as associate coach on a pair of Olympic gold medal teams (his greatest NHL achievement was guiding the Dallas Stars to the Stanley Cup in 1999). Â
Aware of the untapped talent, Hitchcock tweaked the game plan but didnât swamp anyone with a brand new system. Â
âI knew the things you could do, the things you couldnât do and knew how much information they could absorb,â he said. âIâm pretty lucky to have that experience.â
Hitchcock turned 60 last month and seems a little bit professorial, with roundish body, rosy cheeks and cherubic face to go with his measured, learned delivery. Â
There were no bulging veins in the neck, no screaming fit, when Hitchcock addressed players after the Oilersâ three-goal second period earlier this month. Body language combined with a few choice words motivated a stirring three-goal comeback victory. Â
The next day, Hitchcock accentuated the positive: âKeep the score, burn the scorecard.â
âHeâs kind of an âIâm not mad, Iâm just disappointedâ type of guy, and that hurts even more,â captain David Backes said. âHeâs like a dad thatâs disappointed in the kids. That kind of stings.â
Mostly, itâs been the Blues doing the stinging. Â
A franchise that missed the playoffs five of the last six seasons led the Central Division at the midway point for the first time since 2001. Â
They stumbled a bit in late December with a pair of losses at division rival Detroit, but didnât stay down for long.
St. Louis had won four in a row before the overtime loss to Vancouver on Thursday night. So theyâre way past the honeymoon period. Â
âWeâre playing our game night in and night out. Consistent,â forward Chris Stewart said. âWe donât have the big star. Weâre playing to our identity.â
Hitchcock has adjusted, too. He doesnât obsess over the little things as much. Â
âThe world doesnât stop, your coaching ideas have to evolve, too,â team president John Davidson said. âI give him a lot of credit. Heâs understood things he could have done better and things he has to do better. Â
Heâs shown up in better shape, too. Hitchcock is not quite so round anymore after diving into a fitness kick. Â
No more junk food. Hitchcock is an enthusiastic advocate of the so-called caveman diets, which emphasize foods that prehistoric humans ate and shuns processed foods. Â
âI cut out a lot of things. A lot of things,â Hitchcock said. âThe best thing that happened to me on the break was to find a different lifestyle. Â
âItâs not a diet, itâs a way of life. I feel good every day, I donât feel tired. I found a different way to handle the stress of everyday coaching.â
Hitchcock doesnât think heâs changed as a coach, except for being more accepting of individual tastes. Social media doesnât scare him. Â
Though the Blues were far from awful at 6-7 under Davis Payne, the front office detected it might have the makings of yet another futile season waiting for the youth movement to finally click in. Itâs happening now on a roster dotted with former high draft picks complemented by veteran presence. Â
Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was the fourth overall pick in 2008, and forwards T.J. Oshie, David Perron, Patrik Berglund and Backes are all former high picks. Old hands Jason Arnott and Jamie Langenbrunner, the latter a member of Hitchcockâs Stars cup winner, provide stability. Â
The trade of former No. 1 overall selection Erik Johnson to Colorado last winter looks like a steal with Stewart and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk playing key roles.
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